Buckle



(No Model.)

Y J. KENNEDY.

BUCKLE.

No. 410,899. Patented Sept. 10, 1889.

Ifilaeamsm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN KENNEDY, OF BIRMINGHAM, ASSIGNOR TO THE OSBORNE & CHEES- MAN COMPANY, OF'ANSONIA, CONNECTICUT.

BUCKLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 410,899, dated September 10, 1889. Application filed June 15, 1889. $erial No. 314,367. (No specimens.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN KENNEDY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Birmingham, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented new and useful Improvements in Suspender-Buckles, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to that class of Suspender-buckles in which the suspenderends are attached to a ring or loop, which is detachably connected with the sheet-metal box or box-like buckle-frame, in order that it may be readily cast off or attached.

Heretofore and prior to my invention it has been customary to form a hook upon the lower depending extremity of the hook-plate or buckle-plate and strike or punch from the body of said plate a strip of metal which was bent outward with its point lying against and inside the point of the hook to form a guard for the ring or loop carrying the suspenderends. While this construction accomplishes the purpose in view it is open to some objections. The guard piece or strip punched or struck from the plate and integral therewith is liable in time to lose its elasticity and frequently breaks off, thereby ruining the entire buckle. Moreover, unless the entire buckleplate is constructed from metal of superior quality and comparatively high cost the guard-strip possesses little or no elasticity and after a short period of use it separates entirely from the plate. The necessity, therefore, of making the entire buckle-plate of spring metal not only renders its formation more difficult but greatly increases the cost of manufacture, whereby, in the cheaper class of suspenders put upon the market, manufacturers are unable to compete without making the buckles of inferior metal, whereby the guard plate or strip is liable to give out or break off when the suspenders are but little worn.

It is the purpose of my invention to provide an extremely simple construction whereby these objections are effectually avoided, and whereby, also, the construction of the buckle is improved and the cost of manufacture materially reduced; and to these ends my invention consists in the features of construction and combination of devices hereinafter described and claimed.

In order to enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invent-ion, I will now describe the same in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a suspenderbuckle provided with said invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail view showing the buckle-plate and guard-piece separated and illustrating one method of uniting said parts.

In the drawings, the reference-numeral 1 denotes the sheet-metal box-frame of the buckle, which is, in all substantial respects, of the ordinary construction, consisting of a flattened or oblong tube 2, having a slot 3, within which the swinging clamping-lever or buckle-plate 4 is journaled or pivotally mounted in any desired manner. The swingin g clamping-lever or buckle-plate is of any known or desired form and is provided at its lower extremity with a hook 5, usually formed by bending the metal of the plate to the required form. This entire plate may by my invention be formed of any suitable metal having the required strength, but it is not necessary that such metal be elastic.

Upon the face of the swinging clampinglever or buckle-plate 4c is mounted a guardstrip 6, whichis formed of steel, brass, or other spring metal and rigidly attached to one end of the plate in such manner that its free end shall lie against the point of the hook 5 and within the same, where it yields readily to the introduction or removal of the loop or ring carrying the suspender-ends, but forms an effectual guard to the accidental release thereof. This guard-strip may be fastened in place by riveting, or by any other means, forming a rigid and positive attachment. For example, a tang 4: or lug 7 may be formed upon the end of the strip and inserted in a slot 8, formed in the buckle-plate; but any other method of uniting said parts may be employed which will effect the desired result.

By this invention I secure a much stronger and far more permanent attachment of the guard-strip to the buckle than is possible -my invention and is not claimed by me.

Having thus described my invention, whatI claim is 1. As an improved article of manufacture, a sheetrmetal suspeinler-buckle comprising a box-frame and having a swinging clampinglever, a hook and a spring-hook guard composed of a separate piece of metal superior to the metal of the frame and lever and attached by a fastening, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a suspender-bucklc, a buckle-plate provided with a hook at its lower extremity and having a guardstrip formed of a separate piece of spring metal provided at one end with a tang, or lug adapted to be inserted in a slot formed in the buckle-plate between the hook and the journaled or pivoted end of said plate, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my nature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN KENNEDY.

\Vitnesscs:

E. C. DREW, D. L. DURAND. 

